October 2013 Newsletter!

Here's a link to our pdf newsletter. All our students should have received one in the mail; just let us know if you didn't and we'll update your address.

Thanks, and happy practicing!
-Miriam

Practice articles: Early October 2013 edition

The internet and print media are abuzz lately with great thoughts on how to learn. Parents, please note that these thoughts do NOT only apply to a tiger mother shoving her children into a career as a soloist. Rather, they condense some of the best current thinking on how we learn and contain tips for us all. We are nothing if not students, from beginning to end!

Here are just a few articles I've liked:

James Clear's article, "Lessons on Success and Deliberate Practice from Mozart, Picasso, and Kobe Bryant"

Noa Kageyama's blog, books, and counsel serve as a secret weapon for many professional musicians and I love this article about practice, "How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice". The ideas here could apply to anything that requires time to learn. My kids are only 5 and 7 years old, but we are already talking about some of the things he mentions here both in our school day and our instrument practice time.

Sarah Welsh has a good quick read for parents helping children practice. It's a bit annoying to scroll through to read, but there are some clever tricks offered. In our house we do stickers rather than candy, and the stickers add up to choices from a prize bucket of dollar store trinkets (works for the arcades!), but to each his own. See also our parent handbook page about creative practice helpers. "The Secret to Getting Kids to Practice- Without Tears"

... and just for fun, current Nobel Prize winner Thomas Sudhof says this about what lessons with an excellent teacher did for him:
(Who was your most influential teacher, and why?)
My bassoon teacher, Herbert Tauscher, who taught me that the only way to do something right is to practice and listen and practice and listen, hours, and hours, and hours.

Announcing our Fall 2013 Groups & Classes!

ROSE CITY MUSIC ACADEMY

Groups and Studio Classes Fall 2013

Students in our private lessons can join one, free of charge, starting next week!

Group classes, ensembles and studio classes run 10 weeks, beginning the last week of September. These groups are not only fun, they inspire improvement and promote diligent practice. Kids playing in groups develop musical skills they cannot gain in lessons and solo practice.

All students enrolled in private lessons with Rose City Music Academy are invited and strongly encouraged to participate in a group. There is no additional charge for RCMA students joining one of our group offerings. Our faculty members enjoy teaching group classes, students improve more, and this makes it a win-win for everyone in our musical community!

ALL GROUPS MUST HAVE THREE STUDENTS ENROLLED TO RUN.

Please let us know which group you would like to join. You can try any group without notice to us, but please do commit to the ones you like so we can be sure to maintain 3+ students attending.

Non-RCMA students can join for just $135 per 10-week course.

Violin

5:30-6:00pm Mondays ALL LEVELS VIOLIN STUDIO CLASS at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center 6651 SW Capitol Hwy with Elizabeth Doty

For all violinists of all levels. Students will work together on musicianship, Suzuki repertoire, performance skills, and build community through fun group tunes.

4:00-4:30pm Thursdays BEGINNER VIOLIN STUDIO CLASS at Portland First Church of the Nazarene 6100 SW Raab Rd, Portland with Olivia Baker

For Violinists learning beginning Pre-Twinkles through the Minuets of Book 1

This group is for total beginner violins and students learning up through the Minuets of Suzuki Book 1. Students will work together on musicianship, Suzuki repertoire, performance skills, games, and build community through fun group tunes.

4:30-5:00pm Thursdays INTERMEDIATE VIOLIN STUDIO CLASS at Portland First Church of the Nazarene 6100 SW Raab Rd, Portland with Olivia Baker

For violinists learning songs from the end of Book 1 through Book 2 & beyond

This group is for students who have mastered the Minuets of Book 1 through and beyond book 2. Students will work together on musicianship, Suzuki repertoire, performance skills, and build community through fun group tunes.

4:00-4:30pm Thursdays ALL LEVELS VIOLIN CLASS at Portland Adventist Elementary School 3990 NW 1st St Gresham with Lucia Conrad
For all violinists of all levels. Students will work together on musicianship, Suzuki repertoire, performance skills, and build community through fun group tunes.

Cello

4:30-5:00pm Wednesdays ALL LEVELS CELLO STUDIO CLASS at Catlin Gabel School 8825 SW Barnes Rd. with Adrienne Welsh

For all cellists of all levels. Students will work together on musicianship, Suzuki repertoire, performance skills, and build community through fun group tunes.

Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano

5:15-5:45pm Wednesdays CHAMBER GROUP at Catlin Gabel School 8825 SW Barnes Rd. with Lisbeth Dreier *** This class may move to another time/day. ***

This limited enrollment group is for string players in Book 3 or higher, and pianists who can play the repertoire at a similar level (pianists generally have to be a bit more advanced than their string colleagues). Students will learn pieces of chamber music (music where there is usually just one musician on each part and a max of about 8 players per group), working on ensemble, musicianship, reading, and performance of classical repertoire.

Piano

5:15-5:45pm Thursdays ALL LEVELS PIANO STUDIO CLASS at Portland First Church of the Nazarene 6100 SW Raab Rd, Portland with Mahroo Hamedani.

For pianists of all levels. The class may perform for one another, play music games, work on technical skill, discuss music theory and build community by working together on repertoire.

Guitar

4:30-5:00pm Wednesdays ALL LEVELS GUITAR STUDIO CLASS at Catlin Gabel School 8825 SW Barnes Rd. with Kyle Williams

For guitarists of all levels. The class may perform for one another, work on technical skill, discuss music theory and build community by working together on songs.

4:30-5:00pm Thursdays GUITAR PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE at Catlin Gabel School 8825 SW Barnes Rd. with Andrew Becker

By audition, limited enrollment intended for students with strong reading skills. The goal of the Guitar Performance Ensemble will be to perform at least once a term as a group, build community, and learn group skills. Email us for audition information.

Composition, Theory and Games (OPEN TO ALL INSTRUMENTS)

4:30-5:00pm Thursdays YOUNG COMPOSERS at Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy with Cole Robinson

Ages 8+, any instrument welcome. Learn the basics of music theory, notation and composition. Students will have their musical ideas put to paper and performed at one of our recitals. This class is always one of the favorites at our summer camp, and now we’re looking forward to hearing what comes from our students during the school year.

Open Mic for a blog... vlog.. ahem.

Did you notice? We have dusted off our blog! Have a post you'd like to see? We're thinking it would be fun to add a video blog (I'd call it a vlog, but that's gotta be just about the ugliest word I've heard all week). 

What would be helpful to see here? 

Blog post idea #3276: How to deal with practice frustration!

Blog post idea #6928: Alternative Instruments 101

Blog post idea #5972: What to wear for recitals

As you can see, we need more ideas! Comment here or email rosecitymusicacademy@gmail.com

Summer's Half Done (WHAT?!)

Here we are, rounding the bend toward fall already! This summer has already been pivotal for RCMA in several ways. We had two weeks of our largest camps ever, and they were also two of our most fun and encouraging weeks to date (see the previous post for some fun pictures and details). The other big accomplishment is that we have hired three fantastic new faculty members to replace teachers who after years with us are moving to Germany and California. The fall is really shaping up to be a great time for our students, and I’m looking forward to bringing together students and faculty in locations all over the Portland area.

Mahroo Hamedani, Piano & Keyboard

Lisbeth Dreier, Violin

Kyle Williams, Guitar

We have jusssst finished up re-packing all our camp supplies into bins, and the next task is to organize this crazy pile of instruments in my home teaching studio. Anybody want to rent a keyboard (please?!)?

Violins, Cello Chairs, Guitars- and after this picture we stacked our six keyboards in front!
We're gonna need a bigger boat.

We have revamped our registration form, and it should be much easier to download and print now. We are also always happy to attach one to an email for you- just let us know if you'd like more information. rosecitymusicacademy@gmail.com

Did you know we now have teachers available to teach in your home? I’m thrilled about this option and frankly plan to take advantage of it myself with my own two boys (how did we end up staring down the barrel of three different instruments and four lessons a week?). There is a $125 travel fee per 14-week term for this option.

With these new options and the success of the summer, I am really looking forward to building a musical community again this year!

I'd love to hear from students and friends: What musical fun did you have this summer? 

Summer Camp Debriefing

I’m thrilled to post about our summer camps this year, and to put up a few pictures of campers in their native environments. We had large numbers of kids and it was fun to see them form friendships with other students of varying ages. From the first day, when each kid was a little nervous, they began to work together in their classes and free times. By the end of the week the kids were plugged into several groups and moved freely between them through the day: some by age, some by instrument, some just by schedule, others by interests. Friendships formed around learning and expression are often that much sweeter, don’t you think?

Art Class: These gentlemen did finger knitting twice their own height!

Morning Break

Ms. Hamedani works with a camper.

Ms. Welsh teaching composition.

Instrument Making: Glockenspiels in the Sun

Outdoor Play on Catlin's gorgeous campus!

Each of the weeks ended with a recital and I can honestly say I was impressed with what they accomplished in such a short span of time. Our faculty struck a perfect balance of introducing enough content to inspire while rigorously teaching good habits and technique.

 

Young pianists perform in the Friday recital

From Advanced Chamber groups to Art and Instrument Making, the variety of activities through the day kept the kids engaged and excited.

Ms. Conrad coaches a chamber trio